Rooks and Ravens Make a Midnight Sky
by kreuking
Summary: Ruby always keeps her promises, but not always in their preferred method, and sometimes, not even hers.


**Title:** Rooks and Ravens Make a Midnight Sky  
**Fandom(s):** Supernatural  
**Character(s)/Pairing(s):** Dean/Ruby  
**Rating/Warnings:** R; Sexual content, language and canon character death.  
**Prompt(s):** 78_tarot Eight of Cups; 30_forbidden Remember; 100scents Touch Of Sun  
**Word count:** 2154  
**Spoilers:** Through the end of Season 4.  
**Disclaimer:** I don't own this show or the characters from it. If you ever thought I did, you have a much higher opinion of me than I do. Stop it.  
**Summary:** Ruby always keeps her promises, but not always in their preferred method, and sometimes, not even hers.  
**Notes:** For ninkasa at girlsofspn at livejournal. Thanks to lovedbythesun for the beta. This didn't turn out anything close to what I intended. I blame NaNo, the mini version in this case. Title from Hidden Stories by Seanan McGuire.

Sam Winchester: the key to the door every believer wanted to open. He was easy. He was the innocent baby brother, the one who _always_ needed protecting no matter what and resented every minute of it. He needed to feel validated, to know what he thought and how he felt _mattered_. She would give him that, support him, let him be that hero he wanted to be, and even if he didn't trust her now? He would, given enough time, especially when the time came and there was no one else to turn to.

And then there was Dean. Stubborn, belligerent, _racist _Dean. It was true that he wouldn't be an obstacle for long, but if she wanted to get anywhere with Sam, she needed to get _somewhere_ with Dean. She didn't need as much from him as she did from his brother. He just needed to accept her presence there, accept that maybe there was a chance she could help them out, just like Sam had. When the opportunity to save his sorry ass from an early trip downstairs, she took it. It made an impression on him, just like she expected.

That was also the night her secret came out—well, _one_ of them, and it was an embarrassing one, at least for her. As much as she'd insulted Dean's intelligence, she had made the same stupid mistake he had and sold her soul. It didn't matter why; she was just like him.

Well, at least she could use it to her advantage.

Things were never the same between them after that night. Two weeks to the day later she got a call, not by phone as she preferred but the normal way any human would call a demon. The Winchester she expected to see was the younger, but instead what she saw was the back of the older.

"Dean." She reached up to push the white-rimmed sunglasses from her eyes to the top of her head. He turned to no doubt come back with some witty retort, but his eyes were drawn down toward the mostly bare body she'd taken months ago when she escaped the pit. The reaction was enough to turn her scowl into something just slightly more smug. "To what do I owe the displeasure of this summoning?"

"...aren't you a little underdressed?"

"Aw, you must think you're _so cute._" She crossed her arms as she always did, fully aware of what a difference the bikini made. "I _am_ a woman in case you haven't noticed. I was working on my tan."

He scoffed a bit. "Correction, you're _in_ a woman." There was a pause as his own words sunk in. "Which sounds a lot hotter than I thought it would."

"Did you really cut into my spa day just to be an ass?"

She watched his face carefully, but couldn't quite read it beyond the fact that whatever it was made him uncomfortable.

"I, uh...I wanted to ask you some things."

He was serious. _Really_ serious. Maybe things were looking up.

"What kind of things?"

"About your life—your _human_ life—what you remember of it."

She studied him for a moment or two, looking for some indication this was a test, but saw none. He really wanted to know. She could only guess he needed someone who understood just as much as his brother did, and if that would keep him off her back, she'd give it to him.

"I'll go change."

As the weeks passed, there were more and more questions. Her answers were simple at first, glossing over the events like they didn't matter, but little by little, they got more personal. Of course whenever they'd meet, his brother was nowhere in sight; his choice, not hers. She wasn't sure if it was embarrassing for him to be bonding with a demon or because the only thing they really fought about was Sam. It didn't matter why; he was letting her in.

Ruby leaned her head back against the passenger seat and let out a frustrated sigh. "Why are you telling me this? You really think I give a damn about this girl you keep dreaming about?"

"Lisa."

"Right, Lisa, and her little boy, Ben."

"No, not really."

She glanced over at him. "Then why go on about her?"

He chuckled a little, probably at himself more than anything else. "I have no idea."

Her head turned back to look at the wall of the convenience store where they were parked, and she was quiet for a moment or two. "I used to have a family."

It was his turn to look her way, and she could hear the surprise in his voice. "Like...a family family?"

Part of her wanted to roll her eyes, but she didn't. "Like your dream girl. I had a husband and a son."

"Somehow I can't picture you as a mom."

"Can't say I was a good one. But I tried. I still try sometimes I guess, whenever I get attached enough. It doesn't happen often, but yeah," she nodded, "I can get pretty protective." She turned her head toward him again. "Kinda like you are with Sam."

He averted his eyes for a few moments. When they returned to hers, they were more sincere than she'd ever saw them.

"You'll watch out for him when I'm gone?"

Trust. Something she never dreamed she'd get from Dean Winchester. She should be _ecstatic_, and she was in a way—but there was also a twist in her gut that she recognized all too well. Somehow, without even realizing it, she'd let him in, too.

"Yeah," she answered quietly. "I promise." _Just not the way you think._

Before she knew it they were only a few weeks out from the big plunge into the pit. Ruby had started to accompany them on hunts on occasion. She wasn't sure what kind of discussion amongst themselves the boys had, but Sam seemed to accept that she and Dean had reached some kind of agreement. They still had question and answer time, or whatever the hell it was. She didn't know anymore. Pretty soon, though, they were pretty squarely on soul-saving duty. She knew they were just chasing their tails, but she never said a word.

"Find anything?" she asked, leaning back against the edge of the table where the laptop sat.

"Nope. Nada." He sighed and closed the machine in on itself. "This is balls."

She watched him for a moment as he got up and went for a beer. "Maybe Sam'll come back with something."

After a drink, he looked back at her. "You don't really believe that, do you?"

"No," she said without hesitation. "But I've been wrong before. I'm not exactly employee of the month."

He took another long gulp before setting the bottle on the counter and walking toward her. "Why are you doing this anyway? Helping us, I mean. And don't give me that 'I'm not like them' crap. I get that. I just..."

"Just..."

He averted his eyes, licking his lips. "Why help _me_? You hate me. Don't you?"

She actually had to think about it. "Yeah, I do. For the most part."

"Then why? Why do you sit in my car and listen to all the things I can't say to Sam? Why bother spend your time looking for a way to get me out of this mess? Which, by the way, I kinda brought on myself."

She was quiet, just looking at him, mainly searching for a truth she could tell—a truth she could _stand_ to tell.

"You don't deserve Hell, Dean. You made the deal, yeah, and it was as selfish as much as any deal has ever been." She shook her head. "But you don't deserve what's coming. If I thought there was a way..."

She trailed off. If she finished that sentence, she would mean every word despite the position she was in, and it was a little too intimate for her tastes. It didn't matter, any of it. Even if she wanted to back out now, going up against Lilith would get her killed, _if_ she was lucky. Maybe she cared about Dean, more than she wanted to admit, but he was going, like it or not.

She wasn't really sure which one of them had initiated it, but in all of two or three seconds their mouths and bodies were pressed together, Dean lifting her onto the table before he tangled his hands in her hair. For a second her thoughts drifted to Sam, how this would affect the overall plan should he walk in on them, but that was forgotten as soon as his lips brushed her neck at just the right spot. Their clothes were quickly discarded and they moved together until they were both a hot, sweaty mess, her laying back to the table, trying to catch the breath she didn't need, and him leaning over her with a smug grin on his face.

"Shut up," she said to him as she wiped the moisture from her face. "It wasn't _that_ good."

He straightened, giving her room to sit up. "Sure sounded like it."

"I'm a screamer," she said as she pushed herself up and reached for her jeans. "Don't take it personally."

It happened a few more times before the inevitable fallout. That night he summoned her, just like he had the first night, only this time, Sam was with him.

"Did you know?" The tone was accusatory, as was the spark that lit his eyes.

"Know what?"

"Did you know Lilith holds my deal?" All she could do was stare back at him. She didn't need to answer him; he already knew. "Why didn't you tell us?"

"Why do you _think?_" she spat back. "I know you Winchesters, how you just barrel in without thinking. Going after Lilith is a suicide mission."

"Yeah, well, not like I've got a lot of life left to live. Besides, with that knife of yours—"

"That knife isn't going to do you any good if you're both _dead!_ There is _one_ thing I know of that would get you out alive, and it's not exactly something you'd be keen on."

"Yeah? What is it?"

Ruby's gaze drifted in the direction of the younger Winchester and stayed there.

Dean caught on quick. "Oh no, absolutely not."

"Dean, maybe we should hear what she has to say."

"Shut up, Sam!" he yelled back at his brother before turning back to glare at her. "I can't believe I trusted you."

"I was _trying_ to keep my promise," she answered, glaring back.

She watched him as he stepped closer, and returned the bruising kiss that came a few seconds later. Sam's reaction was lost on her; she just couldn't care enough to pay attention. "See ya, Rubes," he said as he took a few steps back. Then he lifted a hand, her knife tucked between his fingers. "Thanks for this."

The betrayal stung like a punch in the face and her temper flared with it. "You son of a bitch." She rushed forward to take back what was hers, but all she did was run into an invisible wall. She looked up to find another betrayal, namely the devil's trap the bastard had painted on the boards above her.

There were so many things she could have said as they climbed the stairs, leaving her there to rot, but the pain and anger and the claustrophobia that had rooted itself in her with her first tastes of incarceration as a human all mingled together, and all she could do was scream about how wrong she had been about him. She told him he deserved what was coming to him and she wished she could be there to see it. Ultimately, none of that was true, and she realized as she listened to their footsteps as she waited for them to leave that she'd never be able to take it back. Even if she could actually manage to choke out an apology, she'd never make it in time for it to make a difference.

Still, she tried. She closed her eyes and chanted feverishly until she built up enough power to break through the trap. By the time she arrived, Dean was ribbons on the floor while Sam was hunched over him with the water works on full blast. Ruby felt her gut twisting up again, but she ignored it, kneeling beside the weeping Winchester and placed a gentle hand on his shoulder.

"I'm sorry, Sam. I really am." To her surprise, he turned her way and wrapped his arms around her, clinging tightly and hiding his face in the crook of her neck. After a few moments of awkward shock, she returned the gesture, rubbing his back.

"Don't worry," she said quietly. "We'll make her pay for this. I promise."


End file.
